N-Methylation of psychedelic phenethylamines has invariably greatly reduced or eliminated their hallucinogenic activity.[3][1][4][5] Examples of this include related compounds like Beatrice (N-methyl-DOM) and methyl-DOB (N-methyl-DOB), which at assessed doses appear to be inactive as psychedelics in humans.[6][1][4][5] According to Alexander Shulgin in his book PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved) however, methyl-TMA showed “some mental disturbances” at the highest assessed dose of 240mg orally.[1] For comparison, the active dose range of TMA is 100 to 250mg orally.[1]
Methyl-TMA was first described in the scientific literature by at least 1984.[2][7] It was subsequently described further by Shulgin in PiHKAL in 1991.[1]
^ abcdefghShulgin A, Shulgin A (September 1991). PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story. Berkeley, California: Transform Press. ISBN 0-9630096-0-5. OCLC25627628. “Three additional N-methylated homologues of known psychedelics warrant mention, but do not really deserve separate recipes. This is because they have had only the most cursory assaying, which I have learned about by personal correspondence. […] METHYL-TMA […] had been run up in several trials to a maximum of 240 [mg], with some mental disturbances mentioned only at this highest level. METHYL-TMA-2 […] had been tried at up to 120 [mg] without any effects. METHYL-TMA-6 […] had been tried at up to 30 [mg] and it, too, was apparently without effects. These are reports that I have heard from others, but I have had no personal experience with them. Those that I can describe from personal experience are entered separately as recipes of their own. And there are many, many other N-methyl homologues which have been prepared and characterized in the literature, and have yet to be tasted. So far, however, the only consistent thing seen is that, with N-methylation, the potency of the psychedelics is decreased, but the potency of the stimulants appears to be pretty much maintained.”
^Nichols DE (2018). Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relationships of Psychedelics. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Vol. 36. pp. 1–43. doi:10.1007/7854_2017_475. ISBN 978-3-662-55878-2. PMID28401524. Although the most active tryptamine hallucinogens are N,N-dialkylated, the phenethylamines generally cannot tolerate even a single N-substitution. Even small groups such as methyl or ethyl (see Table 2) abolish their hallucinogenic activity.
^ abShulgin AT (1980). “Hallucinogens”. In Burger A, Wolf ME (eds.). Burger’s Medicinal Chemistry. Vol. 3 (4 ed.). New York: Wiley. pp. 1109–1137. ISBN 978-0-471-01572-7. OCLC219960627. Of all the variously substituted phenylisopropylamines that have been N-methylated and titrated in man (including the homologs of TMA-2, 2,5-DMA, DOM, and DOB: 60.22b, 60.22i, 60.22aa, and 60.22ff, respectively), it is only the methylenedioxy compound 60.23a that has maintained quantitative potency (94). As with mescaline itself, dimethylation of this compound eliminates any central action.
^ abJacob P, Shulgin AT (1994). “Structure-Activity Relationships of the Classic Hallucinogens and Their Analogs”. In Lin GC, Glennon RA (eds.). Hallucinogens: An Update(PDF). National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph Series. Vol. 146. National Institute on Drug Abuse. pp. 74–91. PMID8742795. Archived from the original on 13 July 2025. [MDA] is also remarkable because the N-methyl homolog 3,4 (MDMA) has biological activity, although the nature of its action places it outside of this review. No other phenethylamine hallucinogen retains central activity on N-methylation.
^Trachsel D, Lehmann D, Enzensperger C (2013). Phenethylamine: von der Struktur zur Funktion [Phenethylamines: From Structure to Function]. Nachtschatten-Science (in German) (1 ed.). Solothurn: Nachtschatten-Verlag. pp. 834–835, 878. ISBN 978-3-03788-700-4. OCLC858805226. 8.5.26. N-Substitution von 2,4,5-trisubstituierten Phenylalkylaminen: Einerseits wurde der Einfluss von N-Alkyl-, andererseits derjenige von N-Heterogruppen-Substituenten geprüft. Allgemein ist bekannt, dass das Einführen von Alkylsubstituenten am Stickstoff von psychedelischen Phenylalkylaminen eine Abnahme der HT2-Rezeptoraffinitäten zur Folge hat [29, 150, 151]. Die Wirkungsabschwächung konnte mit den potenten Substanzen DOB (2) und DOM (8) im Menschen bestätigt werden [8]: N-Methyl-DOM (316; BEATRICE) und METHYL-DOB (317) erwiesen sich im Vergleich zu den beiden unmethylierten Verbindungen als massiv weniger aktiv; die aktive Dosis wurde dabei noch nicht eruiert. METHYL-DOET (318; DOETM) erwies sich bei einer Dosierung von 18mg bereits als deutlich aktiv [140]; die Wirkungen wurden im Vergleich zu DOET (14) als ruhiger und angenehmer beschrieben. […] 318; METHYL-DOET, 18mg, 8-10h. […] [140] P. Rausch. Persönliche Mitteilung, 2009.
^Clark C (1 October 1984). “The Identification of Methoxy-N-Methylamphetamines”. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 29 (4): 1056–1071. doi:10.1520/JFS11772J. ISSN0022-1198.